Improvement in stopping and starting cars



J. H IGGIN.

lCar Brake.

m mm. o0 n.. a. Il. d e t n e .M Dl

y 76 -NO- 31,080

I llllllTwHHHnll N-PETERS, PMDTO-UTHOGRAPMER, WASHINGTON. D. C.

UNITED STATES yPATENT 'f OEEIcE.

JAMES HIGGIN, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN STOPPING AND STARTING CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 31,080, dated January 8, 1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES HIGGIN, of Hopwood Avenue, in the city of Manchester, in the county ot' Lancaster and Kingdom of Great Britain, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Retarding and Stopping Railway- Oarriages; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, forming part of this specification.

In constructing railwaycarriages I make the wheels without flanges and of a great diameter. The body of the carriage is about four inches (or more orless) above the rails of the permanent way. The part of the carriage immediately over the rails is provided with plates of iron,with a projecting flange at one or more parts fitting within the rails. These projecting lianges answer the purpose of the flanges now applied to the wheels. When it is desired to retard or stop the train, the whole body of the carriage is lowered by means of shafts,wheels,and screws or other equivalent agents to bring the plates above referred to onto the rails ot the permanent way. The locomotive, tender, and carriages are connected by shaftswith conical couplings or other suitable couplings, and the gearing for lowering the carriages onto the rails is brought within convenient reach of the engine-driver and of the conductor or other appointed person on the train. The carriages are lowered and raised clear of the rails by an auxiliary steamengine or other convenient machinery. In case an axle should break or other accident occur to bring one of the carriages suddenly onto the rails the apparatus for lowering the other carriages is instantly brought into operation by means of a spring or friction appan ratus which is acted upon by the increased resistance produced. The said spring or friction apparatus may also be in connection with the starting-lever of the locomotive to shut off the steam at the same time.

I propose in the construction of new lines of railway to make the rails of strong angleiron bolted or otherwise attached to longitudinal sleepers; but when my invention is applied in connection with rails of the present construction it is necessary to apply guidewheels with flanges to the carriages.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is an elevation of a railway-carriage and part of the locomotive-en gine to which my improvements are applied. Fig. 2 is a plan of the carriage. Fig. 3 is an end View, and Fig. 4C a' transverse section, of the same. In these last two views I have also shown the rails of the construction hereinabove mentioned, which consist of the strong angle-irons a a., which are bolted or otherwise' attached to the longitudinal sleepers b b.

O is the frame-work of the carriage, ywhich is supported on the four wheels d. *These wheels I prefer to make of about six feet in diameter,` although I do not limit myself to this dimension. flanges and are mounted on the axles e, re-

volving in the bearings f. The lower part ofV the frame-work of the carriage is brought within about four inches from the rails c, and the door of the carriage (marked c) is supported on the beams forming the lower part of the framing The beams of the framing immediately over the'rails c are marked c2 inl Figs. 2, 3, and 4, and these beams are provided with the iron plates g. The plates near each end of the carriage have flanges g', projecting within the rails c. These ianges serve to retain the carriage on the rails in passing round curves in the same manner as the flanges usually applied to the wheels.

The bearings f are made with screw-nuts f', in which work the screws h, two of which have righthanded and two left-handed threads. One end ofeach of the screws h is squared and fitted to a' socket cast or otherwise secured to one of aseries of bevel-wheels h', which are turned round simultaneously an internal cone i3, connected to the shaftby.

a spring to compensate for the expaudingand contracting ot' the buffers Z, which are made iu the usual manner. The shafts 1I of atrain of carriages are connected by the conical blocks and internal cones above described or by any other suitable couplings.

To the locomotive-engine or to the tender The wheels are without i is attached the auxiliary engine with two cylinders, as shown at fm in Fig. l. This engine works the crank-shaft n, which forms the continuation of the line of shafts t', and when it is requisite to stop the train suddenly the engine m is started, thereby turning the shafts n and i', and by them the screws h. By thus turning the screws 7L the carriages are lowered from their proper working level, as shown in Figs. l and 3, to the position shown in Fig. 4 or until the plates g bea-r with the whole weight of the carriage on the rails a, thereby causing a great amount offriction, which instantly retards the motion of the train and finally stops it in a comparatively short distance. The connection between the tender (which is not shown in the drawings) and the rst'carriage of the train is by means of adraw-hook of the usual construction; but this draw-hook is connected to the valve-gear of the auxiliary engine m, so that in case an axle should break or other accident should occur to bring one of the carriages suddenly onto the rails the increased resistance thus produced causes the valve-rod j to act and to admit steam to the cylinders of the auxiliary engine, which then gives motion to the shaftsn and t', thus brin ging the other carriages down onto the rails and stopping the train. The valve-gear of the auxiliary engine is also connected by rods and chains or otherwise with a handle suitably placed upon the train to be within reach of any properly-appointed person, and near the same place with the said handle there may be arranged the requisite gearing for communicating motion to the shaft 11, and thereby lowering the carriages on the rails so that the person appointed may be able to stop the train when it is disconnected from the auxiliary engine. lVhen the carriages are lowered, the shaft n or the shaft on the tender assumes a diagonal position, one of the bearings being fixed on a swivel and the bearing near the carriages being furnished with a spring to allow that end of the shaft to descend and to raise it again when the carriages are again raised.

The steam for the auxiliary engine is shut olif when the screws have performed the rcquisite number of revolutions to lower the carriages onto the rails by means of a worm on the crank-shaft fn, acting on a wheel in which is a stud for moving the starting-lever. The same apparatus is also applicable for stopping the engine when the carriages have been raised to their proper level. Any other combination ot self-acting machinery may be applied for eecting the same object. The carriages after having been lowered are again raised by reversing the direction of motion of the shafts n and f1.' and of the screws 7i. I wish it to be understood that I do not intend to limit myself to lthe precise arrangement of shafts, Wheels, and screws for lowering and raising the carriages, as the same object can be attained by other combinations of machinery.

lVhen my improvements in retarding and stopping trains of carriages are applied to rails of the ordinary construction-that is to say, where there is not sufficient room for the descent of the flanges g', as shown in Fig. 4:- I apply the guide-wheels shown in red in Fig. l. These guide-wheels are mounted on studs iixed in plates or flanges which tit within the rails and slide in grooves in the carriageframe. The plates are acted upon by springs to hold the wheels onto the rails.

These improvements are applicable to every description of railway rolling-stock.

"What I clailn herein as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States, is*

The improved mode of retarding and stopping railway-carriages shown and described, or any modification of the same whereby the carriage is lowered onto the rai-ls of the permanent way. Y

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand before two subscribing witnesses.

JAS. HIGGIN.

Vitnesses:

H. B. BARLow,

Patent Agent, lllcmcheser. JOHN PERKINS,

Draughtsmdn', llcmczester. 

